Helvig tried to hide it, but Herrick saw the king swallow harder after speaking of Maude.He watched as the King of Flame tried to shake off the lingering grief before he placed a hand on the pommel of the dagger he had strapped to his belt. From where he was held against the wall, Herrick could see the blanched color of the blade so aptly named the Bone Dagger.
"This news is what brings me to you, Prince," he said, his hazel eyes burning into Herrick's with a hint of restrained madness in them. "Tomorrow, I shall be crowned the High King before all of Logi, and you, my captive, will be the sacrifice I plan to offer the gods in thanks for their favor."
His time had run out. Herrick tried to find any semblance of panic in his veins at the words, but all he could think was that he could finally join Maude in the hall of the gods. As soon as he thought the words, sorrow flared in his chest. He would be leaving his friends, leaving Hakon. He knew they would find their way, but Herrick's fight, it seemed, was over.
"Last chance to beg for mercy, Prince," Baldr offered from behind Helvig.
Herrick only gave them both a sharp smile. Helvig chuckled at the sight and turned on his heel, leaving him alone in his cell once more.
The morning of his execution, Herrick found one last gift under his blanket. A thin dagger, the length of his palm, with a note wrapped aroundthe hilt. His "friend" in the palace had given him one last chance to fight his way out. He couldn't help but wonder if the gods were interfering when his eyes beheld what the note read.
Be ready. You'll know when to use it.
Below the words was a single rune etched in ink so red it reminded Herrick of hiseldr'shair.
Gebo.
Unity and partnership.
Herrick would not die today. He would take this chance and make it count.
6
Bryn's stomach rocked with every bounce and dip the longship made as it fought through the arctic seas and their mercurial tides. This was Hel on Earth. It had to be. Not for the first time since their ship left the roaring river leading out of Nida, Bryn thought she might finally hurl up her meager lunch of dried herring and bread. Her hands were clenched onto the bench she was straddling, her knuckles bone white with how tightly she held onto the shifting boat.
"She's going to lose her lunch," Hakon shouted over the roaring wind that pitched the ship further to the left. "Four silvers if she empties her stomach onto the deck."
"I'll take that action," Maude piped up from where she sat a healthy distance from her, her face weary of the color Bryn was turning.
"I hope all of you burn in the deepest level of Hela's kingdom," Bryn gasped, her stomach dropping as the bow of the ship crested over a wave.
"I think she'll make it until we dock in Engate," Liv said, kicking a bucket toward her as she leaned on the mast. "But only after she kisses the dry sand."
"Your faith in me truly gives me strength," Bryn muttered as she hung her head in the bucket. The salty smell of herring lingered in the wood, making Bryn's stomach turn more.
She shoved the bucket away, opting to hold her face up to the warm sun. She was not made to be on the water like this; she hated the way an angry sea forced her to be unbalanced. They had only been on the water for one day, and Bryn was ready to jump overboard to letJormungandrhave his way with her.
With the breakneck pace Hakon was setting to reach Engate, Bryn was sure they would arrive with the rise of the next day. The Rivers Heir and her sister had a nervous energy hovering around them, their gazes looking south to Logi as if they were being drawn there. Bryn had never seen her sister so focused on anything before. She was curious to see what would happen when Herrick discovered that Maude was alive.
Needing a change in conversation, Bryn pivoted toward her sister, who had resumed sharpening the iron tips of her arrowheads.
"What are you going to say to Herrick when he sees you?" she asked, Maude's focus on her task slipping as she processed the question.
"I haven't really thought about it," Maude replied, her sheet of hair falling over her shoulder to hide her face from Bryn.
It was a calculated move, no doubt. Habit forced Bryn to let it go; there was no reason to intrude on her sister's emotions like this. In the Palace of Wind and Embers, Bryn excelled at the constant game of hiding one's emotions. She could understand Maude's reluctance to show her perceived weakness.
So why did it sting when Maude had turned away from her rather than share her worries? Why did her chest suddenly feel hollow at her sister's continued self-inflicted isolation? Bryn had thought of all the things she wanted to say to Maude when she was in stasis. She had planned to speak with her directly about all of her thoughts, but the longer they went without discussing it, the harder it became for Bryn to find the courage to speak.
The tension in her neck had reached a breaking point, her tight bun pulling on her scalp enough that she yanked the leather tie from the knot at the top of her head. Thick curls of orange and yellow fell past her shoulders, the thin braids throughout her mane disappearing into the jungle that was living on her shoulders.
The cool ocean breeze wove through the locks, caressing her scalp in a way that was as soothing as someone running their fingers through her roots. It took a moment for Bryn to realize she had relaxed into the natural movements of the longship once the waves had calmed, her body finding a rhythm she didn't know existed in her consciousmind.
"You're a natural when you relax," Liv's melodic voice reached her from a spot much closer than she had been occupying before.
Bryn opened her eyes to find Liv sitting right in front of her, her long legs straddling the bench Bryn had taken for herself upon boarding. Gray eyes surrounded by smooth, ebony skin sparkled with amusement for a moment before they trailed up and around her face, where she imagined her hair had grown wild in the salty wind.
Liv and the others had donned their glamours over their Elven forms when they had left the mountain range protecting Nida. She found that even with the veil of disguise, Liv radiated the light that glowed beneath the skin of those from the southern Elven kingdom. She wondered how no one had noticed before. It was all Bryn could see when Liv reached out a tentative hand to one of Bryn's curls.
